Oct. 28, 1911.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
651 
Birds East and West. 
Oakland, Cal., Oct. 14. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: The changing habits of animals and 
birds in different climates and environment fur¬ 
nishes the lover of nature in her variable moods 
an inexhaustible field of amusement and profit¬ 
able research. Often these diversions arise from 
causes so palpable that the reason or necessity 
of the change is evident to the most casual ob¬ 
server, but in other instances they are so obscure 
or complex that the explanation is difficult and 
at times impossible. 
Personally speaking, the habits of birds have 
always been a subject of much interest to me, 
but as the subject was never investigated from 
a scientific point of view, the conclusions drawn 
therefrom have necessarily been crude and in 
many cases doubtless erroneous. 
Born and raised in the rugged New England 
climate and later migrating to the Pacific coast, 
I found the habits of familiar birds differed very 
materially, and the causes therefor in many 
cases inexplicable. For example, our dear old 
boyhood friend the robin, that in the East loves 
the habitations of men and builds her nest in the 
orchards and trees about the dwellings and even 
over the doorways and in sheds with big open 
fronts, is as wiid on this coast as the crow and 
blackbird, and while back there their songs dur¬ 
ing the mating season was no mean accomplish¬ 
ment, they never entertain us here with any¬ 
thing more musical than a squawk. Their nests 
are built back in the lonely woods, and it is very 
seldom that they are seen in the orchards or 
gardens. 
The purple martin that in the East were such 
a joy to the farmer and so welcome that often 
elegant and costly bird houses were erected with 
the hope of enticing them to spend the summer 
there, are never found around the dwellings here, 
and the only place where I have met them in 
California was in the redwood forests of Mon¬ 
terey county where they had appropriated the 
deserted hollows of the woodpeckers, usually se¬ 
lecting those in the most lofty trees where the 
entrance was frequently more than 150 feet from 
the ground. 
Often in going through the chaparral thickets 
that clothe the sides of the Contra Costa range, 
I catch a glimpse of a chewink flitting in and 
out of the shrubbery, but if he has any voice I 
have never heard it, and he certainly never says 
“chewink.” 
The same can be said of a bird closely resemb¬ 
ling the Eastern catbird, apparently the same 
size and smoky coloring, including even the red¬ 
dish patch under the root of the tail. East he 
is one of the noisiest of birds, but he flits through 
the brush here as silent as a shadow; never a 
caterwaul issues from his throat. 
No bird is more familiar around the towns and 
villages there than the chimney swallow, but here 
with one exception I have never seen it anywhere, 
except high up in the sierras, and many a time 
when camping on the Kern Lake, I have while 
lying beneath the giant pines and firs, watched 
them darting to and fro far above the trees, 
although the lake itself has an elevation of over 
8,000 feet. 
The exception noted was at Grizzly Peak near 
the town of Berkeley, where on two occasions 
I saw half a dozen or more of these sooty little 
swifts flying about its summit, but they did not 
go near the chimneys or dwellings. 
There is a bird here that looks to be a dupli¬ 
cate of the butcher bird or great northern shrike, 
but he is destitute of the bloodthirsty habits that 
characterize him there. 
The mourning doves, as I remember them in 
the East, were usually found in the woods. Here 
they use entirely the meadows and pastures. On 
the other hand the meadow larks are precisely 
like their Eastern cousins in size, plumage and 
habits, and the jays, although differing in color¬ 
ing are the same villainous thieving marauders 
as are those of the Atlantic seaboard. 
Forked Deer. 
Wichita Game Preserve Antelope. 
Frank Rush, the game warden in charge of 
the Wichita National Forest, writes us in re¬ 
lation to the various species of game animals 
now on the Wichita Game Preserve. He says: 
“Eleven head of antelope were shipped here 
last winter at the expense of the Boone and 
Crockett Club. Of these one died en route 
and three more died soon after their arrival, 
from injuries received during their shipment. 
The other seven—one male and six females— 
were liberated last spring in the 8,000-acre 
buffalo pasture which is inclosed by a woven 
wire fence about go inches high. One young 
antelope was born, and the herd now numbers 
eight. It is not known whether the young one 
is a male or female. 
“We have a small herd of elk, four females 
and two males, one of which was sent to us 
three years ago by the City of Wichita, Ivans., 
the other five being sent from St. Anthony, 
Idaho, by the Government last spring. 
“Of the fifteen head of buffalo presented to 
the Government four years ago by the New 
York Zoological Society, three died of Texas 
fever during the summer of 1908. However, 
we succeeded in eradicating the Texas fever 
ticks from the buffalo pasture, and for the last 
three years have had no trouble from that 
source. Our herd now numbers thirty head, 
sixteen males and fourteen females, all in fine 
condition. Since this is the native home of 
the buffalo, elk, antelope and deer, I see no 
reason why these species of big game should 
not thrive and do well.” 
Audubon Societies Meeting. 
New York City, Oct. 20.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: The annual meeting of the members 
of the National Association of Audubon Soc’eties 
for the Protection of Wild Birds and Animals 
will be held in the West Hall of the American 
Museum of Natural History, Co'umbus avenue 
and Seventy-seventh street, New York city, on 
the 31st day of October, commencing at 10 a. m. 
Besides hearing the reports of the secretary, 
treasurer and field agents, there will come before 
the association the subject of the election of two 
directors, to fill the places of William Dutcher 
and Dr. T. S. Palmer, whose terms will then ex¬ 
pire. The vacancy caused by the resignation of 
Dr. Hermon C. Bumpus wiil also be filled. (Mrs. 
Mabel Osgood Wright was appointed by the 
directors, Feb. 28 last, to serve until the annual 
meeting of the members.) 
At 4:15 p. m. there will be an interesting pro¬ 
gram on the subject of “Nature Study in the 
Schools, " and at 8:15 p. m., in conjunction with 
the Linnaean Society, a stereopticon address will 
be given by William L. Finley on “Bird Reser¬ 
vations in the Northwest,” and another by Prof. 
C. F. Hodge on “Problem of Conserving Ameri¬ 
can Game Birds.” 
It is earnestly hoped that there will be a large 
attendance of members and their friends at all 
the sessions. The headquarters for out-of-town 
members will be the Endicott Hotel, Columbus 
avenue and Eighty-first street. 
T. Gilbert Pearson, Sec’y. 
Mammals of Iowa. 
There was recently published in the Pro¬ 
ceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science “A 
Preliminary Annotated Catalogue of the Re¬ 
cent Mammals of Iowa,” by T. Van Hyning, 
Museum Director of the Historic Department 
of Iowa, Des Moines, and Frank C. Pellett, of 
Atlantic, Iowa. 
This is a provisional list, preliminary to a 
monograph on Iowa mammals which the writers 
are preparing for future publication, and is in¬ 
tended to elicit information, records of occur¬ 
rences of species in the State, and criticism. 
The list appears to include all the mammals 
that occur or might occur within the State, and 
it is hoped that all who have information on the 
subject will communicate with the authors. 
The larger mammals of Iowa have for the 
most part been exterminated, and records of 
their past occurrence are greatly to be desired. 
Moreover, Iowa lies just on the border line 
of the range of several species, and it is greatly 
to be hoped that the limits of those ranges may 
be defined. One of these species is the prong¬ 
horned antelope which occurred abundantly in 
South Dakota and Nebraska, and which is 
given—we do not know oil what evidence—in 
Herick’s Mammals of Minnesota. I11 this pro¬ 
visional Iowa list, mule deer, moose and cari¬ 
bou are given as probably having formerly 
occurred. 
It is extremely desirable that early records 
and the memories of early settlers of Iowa 
should be searched for information on the 
larger animals, and it is to be hoped that the 
authors of the present paper will succeed in 
their efforts to give us a satisfactory account 
of the mammals of Iowa as they used to be. 
California Seals. 
San Francisco, Cal., Oct. 11. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: A large number of seals have come 
into San Francisco Bay and for some time have 
been frequenting Yerba Buena Island. Fully a 
hundred are on the rocks, and there is consider¬ 
able speculation as to whether they will remain 
there. Golden Gate. 
